This is the class blog for Eng 1102 at GA Tech called "Fiction, Human Rights, and Social Responsibility." The purpose of this blog is to extend our discussion beyond the classroom and to become aware of human rights issues that exist in the world today and how technology has played a role in either solving or aggravating them. Blogs will be a paragraph long (250 words) and students will contribute once every three weeks according to class number. Entries must be posted by Friday midnight.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

US Drone Strikes in Pakistan & Yemen

Drones, the military and domestic uses of them,
have been a hot topic in the past year. And since January 2012, the United
States has carried out forty-five drone strikes in the North Waziristan region
alone. These events seem far away and are very difficult for the average
American citizen to relate to. We hear (or may not hear, depending on what the
government/press release to us) about a drone strike and think, “There must be
casualties, but I’m sure this is for the better and we will win the conflict.” But
in reality, these strikes are so much more than that. In a more recent attack
from the past month, 18 people were killed and 22 were left wounded, including
young children, below the age of sixteen. The worst part is that the people who
are harmed in these drone attacks are innocent bystanders. If the information
were presented in this way (that innocent lives were lost due to unnecessary
military attacks), the United States and every average American citizen would
be against it. This, meaning the endangerment of innocent lives, is something
our country looks down upon every day. Yet we are now the ones imposing it. CNN
takes a very interesting approach in this article by discussing all those
innocent bystanders, from the children to a 68-year-old woman who was just
tending to her garden when a drone missile took her life. Amnesty International
has even taken a step to look more closely at the situation before determining
whether war crimes have been committed by the United States.

This report about the attacks came out in the past
two days, and now the leaders of the countries are due to meet with President
Obama. Their goal is to “bring the drone program in line with international
law.” It is absolutely shocking to think about the fact that United States
could be responsible for so many innocent lives lost. It is an event that I
would expect would draw a lot more hype and criticism. I would expect these
situations to be a huge asset in arguments against the use of drones, even for
military purposes. People making that argument could cite how dangerous this
new technology can be because of the fact that it could easily harm, injure,
and kill anyone—not just the stated targets. It is also quite scary to think
about how dangerous and capable technology is. Technological advancements
aren’t just the newest software update on the iPhone or a new tablet for
children to use anymore. We see now that technology can be used for evil. I would
hope that this does not become the main goal of technological advancements in
the future. It should be used to solve human rights issues, as opposed to
create them. With great technological ability, comes great
responsibility.